A habitual felony offender and prison releasee reoffender was convicted again in Central Florida.
After a two-day trial, a Volusia County jury found defendant Don Murphy III guilty as charged of Aggravated Battery and Robbery by Sudden Snatching.
On February 15, 2021, a woman was walking to her boyfriend’s house in Daytona Beach when she ran into Murphy and another woman on Dr Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard.
The victim told detectives that Murphy asked her for a lighter, which she declined. The defendant then tried to take her purse. Video surveillance shows he pinned the victim to the ground and punched her multiple times before leaving the scene with her purse.
The victim received life-threatening injuries including several internal bleeds, a collapsed lung and fractured ribs, but recovered at the hospital. Murphy was identified by the victim and was arrested.
Immediately following the verdict, the defendant was sentenced to 30 years in prison as a habitual felony offender and a prison releasee reoffender.
The case was investigated by the Daytona Beach Police Department. Assistant State Attorney Helen Schwartz successfully tried the case for the state. The Honorable Elizabeth Blackburn presided over the case and pronounced sentence.
DENVER — From behind bars to driving trucks, a nonprofit is helping people formerly in prison or jail get good-paying jobs by becoming truck drivers despite their criminal backgrounds.
For Jamie Dick, watching a game of football is a reminder of the time he spent on the field as a quarterback. He also worked hard in the classroom, majoring in economics.
“I became a stockbroker. I started with a small regional firm, Edward Jones, out in Arizona, then started my own firm in Las Vegas and was real successful with that,” Dick said.
Hearing Dick’s story, it seems like he had it all figured out, but then life took a turn for him.
“I got an 18-month sentence, and I spent about eight of that, roughly in Denver County Jail, and then about eight more,” Dick said.
While locked up, Dick created a plan to start his own business. Once he left the halfway house, he learned about Emerge Career.
“Emerge Career is an education technology company. It’s really focused on providing vocational training and wraparound service support to low-income individuals, in particular, folks who are directly impacted by incarceration,” Emerge Career co-founder Zo Orchingwa said.
Since 2022, Emerge Career has helped over 100 people get their CDLs for free by working with local government agencies to train former inmates.
“Everyone deserves a second chance, and because of the social circumstances that we all come from, it’d be unfair to penalize individuals for mistakes that they’ve made and challenges that they’ve experienced,” Orchingwa said.
Orchingwa hopes to expand the program to more states to help formerly incarcerated people.
Nonprofit helping formerly incarcerated individuals in Colorado obtain a CDL
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Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was arrested this week on charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was ordered to remain in custody until his federal trial in New York.So what comes next for the 54-year-old music mogul? And what about the unnamed employees and associates accused of conspiring with him?Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who brought the indictment, was vague when asked whether Diddy or others could face more charges.”I can’t take anything off the table. Anything is possible,” he said. “Our investigation is very active and ongoing, and I think a lot of you who cover this office know that when we say such things, that developments are certainly foreseeable, but I cannot predict them sitting here today.”Multiple witnesses who have worked for Combs have been meeting with prosecutors, a source familiar with the federal investigation told CNN. At least one male sex worker is expected to testify in front of the grand jury in coming days, according to the source, who added the witnesses’ allegations go beyond the details in this week’s indictment.Prosecutors have previously said they have interviewed over 50 victims and witnesses in the case.CNN spoke to several legal experts to try to understand what lies ahead for Combs and for those in his orbit. The experts do not expect a plea deal for the music mogul, noting the accusations against him could expand further.”I will be very curious, especially since he’s being held without bail, if that gives other survivors the courage to come forward,” said Shea Rhodes, director of the Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation.As for the people alleged to be part of Combs’ criminal enterprise, experts highlighted the prosecution’s difficult questions on whether to charge them or get them to testify against him.”The prosecution is going to have to deal with witnesses with a rough past or who are admitting to engaging in criminal activity,” said trial attorney Misty Marris. “You’ve got a lot of people with dirty hands in a racketeering case.”What’s next for CombsThe path ahead for Combs was set in motion by a series of legal decisions the past few days.Combs, 54, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The indictment alleges he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.” It also states that he formed a criminal enterprise that engaged in “sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”He faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted of the racketeering conspiracy charge. The sex trafficking charge comes with a statutory minimum of 15 years.He will remain in federal custody ahead of his trial after his lawyers failed Wednesday in their appeal of a judge’s decision denying him bail. In his ruling, Judge Andrew Carter said there were no conditions that reduced the risk of witness tampering or obstruction. Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo told CNN he will again appeal the ruling.While many federal cases result in plea deals, Agnifilo said that’s not likely between Combs and prosecutors here and said he planned to take the case to trial. “I believe he’s innocent of the charges, and he is going to go to trial, and I believe he’s going to win,” he told CNN on Tuesday.Marris said a plea deal is unlikely in part because of the 15-year mandatory minimum sentence for the sex trafficking charge.”I think what the defense is really saying is, ‘OK we’re going to take it to trial because any plea deal would be unlikely to be so favorable,’” she said. “We’re talking about charges that carry a minimum of 15 years. The idea that a plea deal is going to be something that will have a not-so-severe punishment is just really not in the cards for this case.”Further, Combs could potentially face more accusations of wrongdoing. Prosecutors have said the investigation remains “active and ongoing.” And they have issued a public call for any potential victims to reach out to authorities.It will be difficult for victims to come forward in this case, particularly given the allegations of violence for those who sought to speak out in the past, according to Rhodes.”It’s shame and fear of whether or not you’re going to be believed. (Also) if these allegations about how he had just really engaged his entire organization in covering up what was going on, who is not behind bars that can carry out additional intimidation tactics or instill additional fear in survivors who do want to come forward?” she said.Even so, don’t expect more counts against Combs, said CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. That’s because the racketeering conspiracy charge is so broad that it encompasses a host of different types of wrongdoing, including, according to the indictment, “sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”What’s next for those around himThe federal indictment against Combs alleges he was part of a sprawling conspiracy with staff, assistants, supervisors and associates to commit racketeering from 2008 until now.According to the indictment, the “Combs Enterprise” consisted of Combs, the leader; business entities, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment; and employees and associates, including security staff, household staff, personal assistants and high-ranking supervisors.”Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” the indictment states.Despite those serious accusations, he is the only one facing charges. Why?Several legal experts said the lack of charges for those around Combs indicated they may be cooperating with the prosecution.”You have other people who you could say were his enablers, who are not being looked at by the government, who are looking at helping the government prove their case,” said CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson.Prosecutors could choose to grant these alleged co-conspirators immunity or non-prosecution agreements to get them to testify against Combs, Marris said.”The reason prosecutors would do that is because the target in this case is Diddy,” Marris said. “In order to have a rock solid case against him, the information is necessary and the testimony is necessary.”In addition, the lines between victim, witness and offender can be surprisingly blurry. Rhodes called this the “victim-offender overlap” and noted it’s particularly pronounced in sexual violence and sex trafficking cases.In Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case, for example, several of the women who testified as victims said they had also recruited others to join in the sexual encounters.”Just because a prosecutor can charge someone as a co-conspirator, doesn’t mean that they should,” Rhodes said. “(Prosecutors) could have charged one of those victims as a co-conspirator for recruiting, but that’s not appropriate.”Were some of Combs’ alleged co-conspirators also victims of other violence? The Combs indictment indicates so, stating that one purpose of the criminal enterprise was “securing absolute loyalty from members of the Combs Enterprise, including through acts of violence and threats.”The best guide for Combs’ path ahead is to examine another recent racketeering case.Nadia Shihata, a former federal prosecutor who brought the racketeering case against the singer R. Kelly, told CNN there may or may not be others charged in Combs’ case.”Certainly, additional people could be charged. It’s also possible that additional people have already been charged, pled guilty and are cooperating in the case,” she said. “The fact that it’s a racketeering indictment that relies on an enterprise, though, doesn’t necessarily mean there will be additional people charged.”For example, in R. Kelly’s case – which Shihata acknowledged had some key similarities to Diddy’s – no one else was charged with racketeering. At trial, some of his former employees testified against him, including a general assistant and a tour manager. Kelly was ultimately found guilty.In general, prosecutors have the discretion to decide how wide to cast their net in racketeering cases, Honig said.”You can decide to just charge everyone. Or you can decide to just aim for the top players here,” he said. “(You can say,) ‘I’m gonna focus my resources and attention on the bosses, the heavy hitters and not gonna weigh this indictment down with more peripheral players.’”
Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was arrested this week on charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was ordered to remain in custody until his federal trial in New York.
So what comes next for the 54-year-old music mogul? And what about the unnamed employees and associates accused of conspiring with him?
Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who brought the indictment, was vague when asked whether Diddy or others could face more charges.
“I can’t take anything off the table. Anything is possible,” he said. “Our investigation is very active and ongoing, and I think a lot of you who cover this office know that when we say such things, that developments are certainly foreseeable, but I cannot predict them sitting here today.”
Multiple witnesses who have worked for Combs have been meeting with prosecutors, a source familiar with the federal investigation told CNN. At least one male sex worker is expected to testify in front of the grand jury in coming days, according to the source, who added the witnesses’ allegations go beyond the details in this week’s indictment.
Prosecutors have previously said they have interviewed over 50 victims and witnesses in the case.
CNN spoke to several legal experts to try to understand what lies ahead for Combs and for those in his orbit. The experts do not expect a plea deal for the music mogul, noting the accusations against him could expand further.
“I will be very curious, especially since he’s being held without bail, if that gives other survivors the courage to come forward,” said Shea Rhodes, director of the Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
As for the people alleged to be part of Combs’ criminal enterprise, experts highlighted the prosecution’s difficult questions on whether to charge them or get them to testify against him.
“The prosecution is going to have to deal with witnesses with a rough past or who are admitting to engaging in criminal activity,” said trial attorney Misty Marris. “You’ve got a lot of people with dirty hands in a racketeering case.”
What’s next for Combs
The path ahead for Combs was set in motion by a series of legal decisions the past few days.
Combs, 54, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The indictment alleges he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.” It also states that he formed a criminal enterprise that engaged in “sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
He faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted of the racketeering conspiracy charge. The sex trafficking charge comes with a statutory minimum of 15 years.
He will remain in federal custody ahead of his trial after his lawyers failed Wednesday in their appeal of a judge’s decision denying him bail. In his ruling, Judge Andrew Carter said there were no conditions that reduced the risk of witness tampering or obstruction.
Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo told CNN he will again appeal the ruling.
While many federal cases result in plea deals, Agnifilo said that’s not likely between Combs and prosecutors here and said he planned to take the case to trial. “I believe he’s innocent of the charges, and he is going to go to trial, and I believe he’s going to win,” he told CNN on Tuesday.
Marris said a plea deal is unlikely in part because of the 15-year mandatory minimum sentence for the sex trafficking charge.
“I think what the defense is really saying is, ‘OK we’re going to take it to trial because any plea deal would be unlikely to be so favorable,’” she said. “We’re talking about charges that carry a minimum of 15 years. The idea that a plea deal is going to be something that will have a not-so-severe punishment is just really not in the cards for this case.”
Further, Combs could potentially face more accusations of wrongdoing. Prosecutors have said the investigation remains “active and ongoing.” And they have issued a public call for any potential victims to reach out to authorities.
It will be difficult for victims to come forward in this case, particularly given the allegations of violence for those who sought to speak out in the past, according to Rhodes.
“It’s shame and fear of whether or not you’re going to be believed. (Also) if these allegations about how he had just really engaged his entire organization in covering up what was going on, who is not behind bars that can carry out additional intimidation tactics or instill additional fear in survivors who do want to come forward?” she said.
Even so, don’t expect more counts against Combs, said CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. That’s because the racketeering conspiracy charge is so broad that it encompasses a host of different types of wrongdoing, including, according to the indictment, “sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
What’s next for those around him
The federal indictment against Combs alleges he was part of a sprawling conspiracy with staff, assistants, supervisors and associates to commit racketeering from 2008 until now.
According to the indictment, the “Combs Enterprise” consisted of Combs, the leader; business entities, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment; and employees and associates, including security staff, household staff, personal assistants and high-ranking supervisors.
“Members and associates of the Combs Enterprise engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other activities, sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” the indictment states.
Despite those serious accusations, he is the only one facing charges. Why?
Several legal experts said the lack of charges for those around Combs indicated they may be cooperating with the prosecution.
“You have other people who you could say were his enablers, who are not being looked at by the government, who are looking at helping the government prove their case,” said CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson.
Prosecutors could choose to grant these alleged co-conspirators immunity or non-prosecution agreements to get them to testify against Combs, Marris said.
“The reason prosecutors would do that is because the target in this case is Diddy,” Marris said. “In order to have a rock solid case against him, the information is necessary and the testimony is necessary.”
In addition, the lines between victim, witness and offender can be surprisingly blurry. Rhodes called this the “victim-offender overlap” and noted it’s particularly pronounced in sexual violence and sex trafficking cases.
In Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking case, for example, several of the women who testified as victims said they had also recruited others to join in the sexual encounters.
“Just because a prosecutor can charge someone as a co-conspirator, doesn’t mean that they should,” Rhodes said. “(Prosecutors) could have charged one of those victims as a co-conspirator for recruiting, but that’s not appropriate.”
Were some of Combs’ alleged co-conspirators also victims of other violence? The Combs indictment indicates so, stating that one purpose of the criminal enterprise was “securing absolute loyalty from members of the Combs Enterprise, including through acts of violence and threats.”
The best guide for Combs’ path ahead is to examine another recent racketeering case.
Nadia Shihata, a former federal prosecutor who brought the racketeering case against the singer R. Kelly, told CNN there may or may not be others charged in Combs’ case.
“Certainly, additional people could be charged. It’s also possible that additional people have already been charged, pled guilty and are cooperating in the case,” she said. “The fact that it’s a racketeering indictment that relies on an enterprise, though, doesn’t necessarily mean there will be additional people charged.”
For example, in R. Kelly’s case – which Shihata acknowledged had some key similarities to Diddy’s – no one else was charged with racketeering. At trial, some of his former employees testified against him, including a general assistant and a tour manager. Kelly was ultimately found guilty.
In general, prosecutors have the discretion to decide how wide to cast their net in racketeering cases, Honig said.
“You can decide to just charge everyone. Or you can decide to just aim for the top players here,” he said. “(You can say,) ‘I’m gonna focus my resources and attention on the bosses, the heavy hitters and not gonna weigh this indictment down with more peripheral players.’”
A second judge refused to grant bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday and he could remain in federal custody at a Brooklyn detention center until his trial for sex trafficking charges. Combs joins other high-profile inmates, such as singer R. Kelly, fallen cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, rapper Ja Rule —even Al Sharpton served a brief stint— who were held at the same federal detention center.
Notorious for its horrible conditions —inmates won a $10 million class action settlement after enduring frigid conditions during an 8-day blackout in 2019— the waterfront industrial complex, MDC Brooklyn, houses 1,200 inmates.
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn is a federal administrative detention facility.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
Violence and corruption have long plagued the facility; U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown of the Eastern District of New York wrote the detention center had “dangerous, barbaric conditions” in a recent sentencing opinion. Two inmates were stabbed to death in recent months and several correction officers have been convicted for smuggling contraband and accepting bribes.
Combs joins a list of high-profile personalities that have landed at the MDC Brooklyn, partly because the city’s other federal detention center, MDC New York, closed in 2021, also due to horrible conditions. The disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in his cell there in 2019. “Numerous and serious” instances of misconduct among corrections staff gave Epstein the opportunity to kill himself, a subsequent federal watchdog investigation found.
Kelly sued the federal detention center in 2022 for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing. Kelly sought $100 million because he said the detention center knew he wasn’t suicidal after he was convicted in 2021 for racketeering and violating the Mann Act, which bars transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, leaving court in New York on July 26, 2023.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former crypto billionaire Bankman-Fried survived on bread, water and sometimes peanut butter when he was in the MDC Brooklyn, his attorney said, because the detention center continued to serve him a “flesh diet” despite requests for vegan dishes.
Sharpton served a 90-day sentence in 2001 and went on a hunger strike for protesting the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico.
Combs was taken into custody on Monday and according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday he was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
His attorney Marc Agnifilo told CBS News, “It’s impossible to prepare for a trial from where he is,” after a first federal judge denied Combs bail on Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky agreed with prosecutors who argued the hip-hop mogul, who is accused of using his business empire as a criminal enterprise to conceal his alleged abuse of women, is a flight risk and poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community.
Agnifilo said the part of the detention center where Combs is being held is “a very difficult place to be.”
Cara Tabachnick is a news editor at CBSNews.com. Cara began her career on the crime beat at Newsday. She has written for Marie Claire, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She reports on justice and human rights issues. Contact her at cara.tabachnick@cbsinteractive.com
A Florida fentanyl trafficker has been sentenced to federal prison.
This month, 39-year-old Patrick Ward, of Saint Lucie County, was sentenced to 75months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised releasefor trafficking fentanyl.
The sentence comes after Ward previously pleaded guilty to distributing fentanylon three separate occasions. According to the court record, on July 6, July 13, and August 18, of 2022, Ward sold a total of 47 grams of fentanyl in Port St. Lucie.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, and Acting Chief Richard R. Del Toro, Jr.,of thePort St. Lucie Police Department (PSLPD) announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon.
DEA Miami Field Division andPSLPDinvestigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter prosecuted it.
A Broward County insurance adjuster was arrested for unlicensed public adjusting.
Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez allegedly secured public insurance adjuster contracts for adjusting, and appraisal services, without being licensed in the state of Florida, and then unlawfully withheld money belonging to two policyholders. Gonzalez defrauded the two policyholders out of $34,424.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis recently announced the arrest of Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez, owner of Maximum Claims Recovery, Inc., on two counts of felony charges of Unlicensed Public Adjusting.
“When unlicensed public adjusters take advantage of the system, every policyholder in the state loses,” Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said. “Insurance fraud drives up rates and devalues the professionalism of honest public adjusters and insurance agents. As Florida’s insurance market begins to improve little-by-little, we will continue to assure companies and policyholders that fraud will not be tolerated in our state. Kudos to my Criminal Investigations Division fraud detectives for doing the hard work to bring this fraudster to justice. Also, thanks to the Broward State Attorney’s Office for prosecuting this case and protecting the rights of Florida consumers.”
“NAPIA believes in the ethical practice of public insurance adjusting and applauds all efforts of the Florida DFS to assure that only licensed public adjusters are allowed to assist consumers who have sustained first party property loss,” said Brian Goodman, General counsel to the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (NAPIA).
In September 2023 and December 2023, the Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS), Criminal Investigations Division (CID) received complaints from policyholders based on concerns that Maximum Claims Recovery Inc, operated by Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez, may have secured a public insurance adjuster contract, for adjusting and appraisal services, without being licensed in the state of Florida and for unlawfully withholding monies belonging to the two policyholders.
According to supporting documents that were provided by the policyholders, Gonzalez represented himself as a licensed public adjuster to assist the policyholders with insurance claims related to home damage in 2022, in return for a 20% adjusting fee of the insurance settlements. The contract agreements from Maximum Claims Recovery, Inc. were executed and memorialized in writing by Gonzalez and the policyholders.
As such, Evolution Risk Advisors issued a settlement check in the amount of $18,000 on behalf of Universal and Property Insurance that was payable to Maximum Claim Recovery. Catastrophe and National Claims (CNC) issued two settlement checks on behalf of State National Insurance Company, Inc. that were payable to Maximum Claim Recovery that totaled $26,903. In both instances, the checks totaling $44,903 were signed and deposited in a Chase bank account Maximum belonging to Claims Recovery, Inc.
CID investigators gathered evidence to show the settlement checks totaling $44,903 were deposited into the Chase account. Although, Gonzalez received the settlement checks in a timely manner, he failed to remit the funds due to one of the policyholders from the Evolution Risk Advisors claim which totaled $18,000.
He also provided a business check in the amount of $16,424 to the other insured on behalf of CNC which was deposited by the policyholder and was returned for non-sufficient funds. As a result of fraudulent, unethical, and dishonest acts within the insurance industry, Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez received a total of $44,903 while acting as an unlicensed public adjuster and failed to remit to the policyholders approximately $34,424 of insurance claim money.
CID Investigators reviewed records from the Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS), Division of Agent & Agency Services (A&A) which showed Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez licensed as an All Lines Public Adjuster suspended by the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida on April 25, 2013, for failing to maintain a surety bond.
Furthermore, Gonzalez was also arrested on June 19, 2023, by CID detectives in Miami-Dade County for a similar act. In that case, Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez was charged with one count of acting as a public adjuster and one count of grand theft.
Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez was arrested at the Broward County Main Jail without incident by CID detectives. The Broward State Attorney’s Office, who partnered in this investigation will handle prosecution. If convicted, Giorgio Giovanni Gonzalez could face up to 30 years in prison.
Kinshasa, Congo — An attempted jailbreak in Congo’s main prison in the capital left at least 129 people dead, most of them in a stampede, authorities said Tuesday. A provisional assessment showed that 24 inmates were shot dead by “warning” gunshots as they tried to escape from the overcrowded Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa early Monday, Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani said on the social platform X.
“There are also 59 injured people taken into care by the government, as well as some cases of women raped,” he said, adding that order has been restored at the prison, part of which was burned in the attack.
Makala, Congo’s largest penitentiary with a capacity for 1,500 people, holds over 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report. The facility has recorded previous jailbreaks, including in 2017 when an attack by a religious sect freed dozens.
A security guard stands next to a hole in the perimeter wall of the Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sept. 2, 2024, after authorities said almost 130 people were killed during an attempted escape that led to stampede.
Reuters/Handout/Congolese Interior Ministry
Gunfire inside the prison started around midnight on Sunday into Monday morning, residents said. A senior government official earlier said only two deaths were confirmed during the incident, a figure disputed by rights activists.
Videos that appeared to be from the prison showed bodies lying on the ground, many of them with visible injuries. Another video showed inmates carrying people who appeared to be dead into a vehicle.
There were no signs of forced entry into the prison, which is located in the city center, 3 miles from the presidential palace.
The attempted escape was plotted from inside the prison by inmates in one of the wings, Mbemba Kabuya, the deputy justice minister, told the local Top Congo FM radio.
In the hours that followed the attack, the road to the prison was cordoned off while authorities convened a panel to investigate the incident.
Makala — among other prisons in Congo — is so overcrowded that people often die from starvation, activists say. Scores of inmates have been released this year as part of efforts to decongest the prisons.
A July 27, 2024 file photo taken from video shows prisoners inside the Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Reuters
Justice Minister Constant Mutamba called the attack a “premeditated act of sabotage,” adding that those who “instigated these acts of sabotage… will receive a stern response.”
He also announced a ban on the transfer of inmates from the prison and said authorities will build a new prison, among other efforts to reduce overcrowding.
Incident in Volgograd took place during meeting of jail’s disciplinary commission with ‘several prisoners’ involved.
Russian inmates have taken staff hostage at a prison colony in the southern Volgograd region in the second such event since June, officials said.
At least one member of the prison staff was killed in the incident on Friday, state media reported.
“During a session of a disciplinary commission, convicts took staff of the penal institution as hostages,” Russia’s federal penitentiary service said in a statement.
“Measures are currently being taken to free the hostages. There are casualties,” the statement added.
Russia’s investigative committee said “several prisoners” were involved.
The IK-19 prison colony is located in the town of Surovikino, about 850km (530 miles) south of the capital, Moscow.
Videos published on Russian social media appeared to show about four prison guards taken hostage, some lying in pools of blood.
A video posted by the news channel Mash showed at least two attackers. One of them shouted that they were “mujahideen” of the ISIL (ISIS) group and had seized control of the prison. The video suggested the death toll was higher.
The videos could not be independently verified.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in televised remarks that he had been briefed by the head of the prison service.
The prison is designated as a “harsh regime” penal colony with the capacity to hold up to 1,241 male prisoners.
News sites with security connections published the names of up to four alleged attackers, identifying them as citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. There was no official confirmation.
The attacks come after the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, an ISIL affiliate, claimed responsibility for an attack on a concert hall in Moscow that killed 145 last March, the deadliest such strike in Russia for two decades.
The group remains one of the most active affiliates of ISIL and takes its title from an ancient caliphate in the region that once encompassed areas of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
It emerged from eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and was made up of breakaway fighters of the Pakistan Taliban and local fighters who pledged allegiance to the late ISIL leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In June, a bloody ISIL-linked prison uprising took place in the southern region of Rostov, where special forces shot dead six inmates who had taken hostages.
Later that month, at least 20 people were killed in shooting attacks in two cities in Dagestan, a mainly Muslim region of southern Russia.
ISIL has repeatedly pledged to target Russia over its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has waged a military campaign to quash the group in the Middle East.
Residents in central city of Saint-Marc have been advised by authorities to remain vigilant for escapees.
A prison break in central Haiti has resulted in the deaths of at least 11 inmates, the authorities said, the third such incident this year amid a continuing humanitarian crisis fuelled by gang violence.
Police said inmates broke out of a prison in the coastal city of Saint-Marc, some 88km (55 miles) north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Friday.
Eleven suspected escaped inmates were killed in shootouts with police and one was arrested, according to Michel Ange Louis Jeune, spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, according to The Associated Press news agency.
He did not provide further details, including how many inmates escaped.
“The situation is under control but the results are catastrophic. All the cops’ dormitories have burnt down. The archives have burnt down. They’ve set everything on fire except their cells,” State Prosecutor Venson Francois said, the Reuters news agency reported.
Francois warned that residents should remain vigilant and watch for escapees.
Saint-Marc Mayor Myriam Fievre, meanwhile, said 12 prisoners were killed, according to Reuters.
Social media footage that could not be immediately verified, appeared to show people climbing over walls and smoke streaming out of walls lined with barbed wire, a loud explosion and fire.
Haitian prisons are severely overcrowded and pretrial detentions can stretch for years.
Walter Montas, a local government official, said the incident spiralled from a protest as prisoners were going without food and facing poor health conditions.
In December 2014, nearly three dozen of 500 inmates escaped from a prison in Saint-Marc after sawing through steel bars, authorities said.
Conditions in Haiti’s prisons are squalid, with many cells filled to close to quadruple their capacity, the United Nations has said. A lack of basic necessities has killed 109 inmates so far this year.
Prison officials had also been on strike demanding better treatment, local media reported.
The government was forced to declare a state of emergency amid a surge in gang violence in the Caribbean nation.
An uptick in attacks across Port-au-Prince eventually prompted the resignation of Haiti’s unelected prime minister, Ariel Henry, the creation of a transitional presidential council and the deployment of Kenyan police as part of a UN-backed mission to quell the violence.
Police have struggled to hold off gangs as the delivery of funds, personnel and equipment for the UN-backed security mission first requested in 2022 continues to lag.
The unrest has forced about 600,000 people to flee their homes for elsewhere in Haiti and some five million people – about half the population – into severe hunger.
A Missouri man was freed from prison Tuesday after his murder conviction was overturned after 34 years behind bars, despite the state attorney general’s efforts to keep him there.
“I never gave up because my family never gave up,” Christopher Dunn said from the steps of the downtown St. Louis courthouse. “It’s easy to give up in prison when you lose hope. But when the system throws you away, you have to ask yourself if you wanted to just settle for it or fight for it.”
Dunn, 52, reunited with his wife, Kira Dunn, as he was officially released from the St. Louis city jail Tuesday night. As his release drew imminent, he was driven by van from the state prison in Licking, Missouri, to St. Louis, about 140 miles away.
A St. Louis circuit judge overturned Dunn’s murder conviction on July 22 and ordered his immediate release. But Dunn remained imprisoned amid a chaotic process that began when Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed to try and keep Dunn locked up.
When asked about the delay since the judge’s ruling, Dunn said, “It was testing. To hear the decision by the judge and then be prepared to leave on Wednesday, only to be brought back to prison. It was torture.”
Christopher Dunn emerges from a St. Louis courtroom with his wife, Kira, in St. Louis, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, after being freed following 34 years in prison. A judge overturned Dunn’s conviction on July 22.
Jim Salter / AP
Dunn’s release marks the second time in recent weeks that a person was freed from prison despite Bailey’s appeals to keep them in custody after a murder conviction was overturned.
Sandra Hemme was freed July 19 from a western Missouri prison after serving 43 years for a murder that a judge deemed there was evidence of her “actual innocence.” Bailey’s office also opposed Hemme’s release while an appellate court reviewed the case. She walked out of the prison only after a judge threatened Bailey with contempt if she wasn’t freed.
Political scientists and some attorneys have said Bailey was taking the tough stance to shore up votes in advance of a contested Republican primary. He faces a challenge from Will Scharf, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, in the Aug. 6 primary.
At one point last week, Dunn was minutes away from getting out of prison after the circuit judge, Jason Sengheiser, threatened a warden with contempt if he wasn’t released. But then the Missouri Supreme Court agreed to consider the case, temporarily halting his freedom.
Then on Tuesday, the state’s highest court issued a ruling stating that the St. Louis circuit attorney needed to confirm it had no plans to retry Dunn before he could be freed. Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore immediately filed a memorandum stating he would not seek a new trial, setting in motion the process toward Dunn’s freedom.
A statement from the Midwest Innocence Project said Dunn “is coming home.”
“We are thrilled that Chris will finally be reunited with his family after 34 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit,” the statement read. “We look forward to supporting Chris as he rebuilds his life.”
Earlier Tuesday, leaders of the Missouri NAACP and other organizations said that politics and racism were behind Bailey’s effort to keep Dunn behind bars. State NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. said at a news conference that Bailey “superseded his jurisdiction and authority” in appealing Sengheiser’s ruling.
“What’s happening now is another form of lynching,” said another speaker, Zaki Baruti of the Universal African People’s Organization.
Bailey’s office, in an earlier statement, said the effort to keep Dunn in prison was warranted.
“Throughout the appeals process, multiple courts have affirmed Christopher Dunn’s murder conviction,” the statement read. “We will always fight for the rule of law and to obtain justice for victims.”
Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1990 shooting of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion in February seeking to vacate the guilty verdict. A hearing was in May.
Sengheiser wrote in his ruling that Gore “made a clear and convincing showing of ‘actual innocence’ that undermines the basis for Dunn’s convictions because in light of new evidence, no juror, acting reasonably, would have voted to find Dunn guilty of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office opposed the effort to vacate Dunn’s conviction. Lawyers for the state said at the May hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they later recanted as adults.
Rogers was shot May 18, 1990, when a gunman opened fire while he was with a group of other teenage boys outside a home. DeMorris Stepp, 14, and Michael Davis Jr., 12, both initially identified Dunn as the shooter.
In a recorded interview played at the hearing, Davis said he lied because he thought Dunn was affiliated with a rival gang.
Stepp’s story has changed a few times over the years, Gore said at the hearing. Most recently he has said he did not see Dunn as the shooter. Gore said another judge previously found Stepp to be a “completely unreliable witness” and urged Sengheiser to discount him altogether.
Dunn has said he was at his mother’s home at the time of the shooting. Childhood friend Nicole Bailey testified that she spoke with him by phone that night and he was on a phone at his mother’s house.
Tristin Estep, the assistant attorney general, said that alibi could not be trusted and that Dunn’s story has shifted multiple times over the years. Dunn did not testify at the hearing.
A Missouri law adopted in 2021 lets prosecutors request hearings when they see evidence of a wrongful conviction. While Bailey’s office is not required to oppose such efforts, he also opposed another effort in St. Louis that resulted in Lamar Johnson being freed last year after serving 28 years for a murder case in which a judge ruled he was wrongfully convicted.
The 2021 law has resulted in the release of two men who each spent decades in prison. In addition to Johnson, Kevin Strickland was freed in 2021 after more than 40 years for three killings in Kansas City after a judge ruled he was wrongfully convicted in 1979.
Another hearing is approaching for Marcellus Williams, who narrowly escaped lethal injection and is now facing another execution date.
St. Louis County’s prosecutor believes DNA evidence shows that Williams didn’t commit the crime that landed him on death row. DNA of someone else — but not Williams — was found on the knife used in the 1998 killing, experts said.
A hearing on Williams’ innocence claim begins Aug. 21. His execution is scheduled for Sept. 24.
Bailey’s office is opposing the challenge to Williams’ conviction, too.
The Missouri Supreme Court halted the immediate release Wednesday of a man whose murder conviction was overturned — just as the man was about to walk free.A St. Louis Circuit Court judge had ordered Christopher Dunn, now 52, to be released by 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday and threatened the prison warden with contempt if Dunn remained imprisoned. But Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been fighting Dunn’s release.The situation was chaotic as the deadline set by the judge approached. Corrections Department spokesperson Karen Pojmann told The Associated Press that Dunn was out of the prison facility and waiting for a ride. His wife told the AP she was on his way to pick him up. Minutes later, Pojmann corrected herself and said that while Dunn was signing paperwork to be released, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a ruling that put his freedom on hold.St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser overturned Dunn’s murder conviction Monday, citing evidence of “actual innocence” in the 1990 killing. He ordered Dunn’s immediate release then, but Bailey appealed, and the state Department of Corrections declined to release Dunn.St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore had filed a motion Wednesday urging the judge to immediately order Dunn’s freedom.“The Attorney General cannot unilaterally decide to ignore this Court’s Order,” Gore wrote.An attorney for the Department of Corrections told a lawyer in Gore’s office that Bailey advised the agency not to release Dunn until the appeal plays out, according to a court filing. When told it was improper to ignore a court order, the Department of Corrections attorney “responded that the Attorney General’s Office is legal counsel to the DOC and the DOC would be following the advice of counsel.”Dunn’s attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, the executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, expressed her frustration.“What is this bringing to taxpayers in Missouri? What is this use of our resources and our state’s time getting us?” she said. “All it’s doing is keeping innocent people in prison.”Dunn’s wife said while driving to the prison that they were numb when he didn’t get out earlier this week.“If you know a little about the story, you know we’ve had a lot of disappointments where we thought we’d finally get his freedom and it was snatched away,” Kira Dunn said. “So we were just bracing ourselves.”Dunn’s situation is similar to what happened to Sandra Hemme.The 64-year-old woman spent 43 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a woman in St. Joseph in 1980. A judge on June 14 cited evidence of “actual innocence” and overturned her conviction. She had been the longest held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to the National Innocence Project, which worked to free Hemme.Appeals by Bailey — all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court — kept Hemme imprisoned at the Chillicothe Correctional Center. During a court hearing Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman said that if Hemme wasn’t released within hours, Bailey himself would have to appear in court with contempt of court on the table. Hemme was released later that day.The judge also scolded Bailey’s office for calling the warden and telling prison officials not to release Hemme after he ordered her to be freed on her own recognizance.Dunn, who is Black, was 18 in 1990 when 15-year-old Ricco Rogers was killed. Among the key evidence used to convict him of first-degree murder was testimony from two boys who were at the scene of the shooting. Both later recanted their testimony, saying they had been coerced by police and prosecutors.At an evidentiary hearing in 2020, another judge agreed that a jury would likely find Dunn not guilty based on new evidence. But that judge, William Hickle, declined to exonerate Dunn, citing a 2016 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that only death row inmates — not those like Dunn sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole — could make a “freestanding” claim of actual innocence.A 2021 law now allows prosecutors to seek court hearings in cases with new evidence of a wrongful conviction.Although Bailey’s office is not required to oppose such efforts, lawyers for his office said at the hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they recanted as adults.He also raised opposition at a hearing for Lamar Johnson, who spent 28 years in prison for murder. Another St. Louis judge ruled in February 2023 that Johnson was wrongfully convicted, and he was freed.Another hearing begins Aug. 21 for death row inmate Marcellus Williams. Bailey’s office is opposing the challenge to Williams’ conviction, too. Timing is of the essence: Williams is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24.Steven Puro, professor emeritus of political science at St. Louis University, said Bailey is in a highly competitive race for the attorney general position with the primary quickly approaching on Aug. 6.“Bailey is trying to show that he is, quote, ‘tough on crime,’ which is a very important Republican conservative position,” he said. “Clearly, he’s angering members of the judicial system that he will have to argue before in the future. But he’s making the strategic notion that he needs to get his name before the voters and try to use that to win the primary election.”Michael Wolff, a former Missouri Supreme Court judge and chief justice, agreed, saying it seems this has become political for Bailey.“But one of the things is that no matter what your beliefs are, if a court orders something to happen, it’s not your purview to say no,” he said. “The court has to be obeyed.”___Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas; Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine contributed from Columbia, Missouri.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Video from: KSDK, KIRA DUNN, CNN via CNN Newsource) —
The Missouri Supreme Court halted the immediate release Wednesday of a man whose murder conviction was overturned — just as the man was about to walk free.
A St. Louis Circuit Court judge had ordered Christopher Dunn, now 52, to be released by 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday and threatened the prison warden with contempt if Dunn remained imprisoned. But Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been fighting Dunn’s release.
The situation was chaotic as the deadline set by the judge approached. Corrections Department spokesperson Karen Pojmann told The Associated Press that Dunn was out of the prison facility and waiting for a ride. His wife told the AP she was on his way to pick him up. Minutes later, Pojmann corrected herself and said that while Dunn was signing paperwork to be released, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a ruling that put his freedom on hold.
St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser overturned Dunn’s murder conviction Monday, citing evidence of “actual innocence” in the 1990 killing. He ordered Dunn’s immediate release then, but Bailey appealed, and the state Department of Corrections declined to release Dunn.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore had filed a motion Wednesday urging the judge to immediately order Dunn’s freedom.
“The Attorney General cannot unilaterally decide to ignore this Court’s Order,” Gore wrote.
An attorney for the Department of Corrections told a lawyer in Gore’s office that Bailey advised the agency not to release Dunn until the appeal plays out, according to a court filing. When told it was improper to ignore a court order, the Department of Corrections attorney “responded that the Attorney General’s Office is legal counsel to the DOC and the DOC would be following the advice of counsel.”
Dunn’s attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, the executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, expressed her frustration.
“What is this bringing to taxpayers in Missouri? What is this use of our resources and our state’s time getting us?” she said. “All it’s doing is keeping innocent people in prison.”
Dunn’s wife said while driving to the prison that they were numb when he didn’t get out earlier this week.
“If you know a little about the story, you know we’ve had a lot of disappointments where we thought we’d finally get his freedom and it was snatched away,” Kira Dunn said. “So we were just bracing ourselves.”
Dunn’s situation is similar to what happened to Sandra Hemme.
The 64-year-old woman spent 43 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a woman in St. Joseph in 1980. A judge on June 14 cited evidence of “actual innocence” and overturned her conviction. She had been the longest held wrongly incarcerated woman known in the U.S., according to the National Innocence Project, which worked to free Hemme.
Appeals by Bailey — all the way up to the Missouri Supreme Court — kept Hemme imprisoned at the Chillicothe Correctional Center. During a court hearing Friday, Judge Ryan Horsman said that if Hemme wasn’t released within hours, Bailey himself would have to appear in court with contempt of court on the table. Hemme was released later that day.
The judge also scolded Bailey’s office for calling the warden and telling prison officials not to release Hemme after he ordered her to be freed on her own recognizance.
Dunn, who is Black, was 18 in 1990 when 15-year-old Ricco Rogers was killed. Among the key evidence used to convict him of first-degree murder was testimony from two boys who were at the scene of the shooting. Both later recanted their testimony, saying they had been coerced by police and prosecutors.
At an evidentiary hearing in 2020, another judge agreed that a jury would likely find Dunn not guilty based on new evidence. But that judge, William Hickle, declined to exonerate Dunn, citing a 2016 Missouri Supreme Court ruling that only death row inmates — not those like Dunn sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole — could make a “freestanding” claim of actual innocence.
A 2021 law now allows prosecutors to seek court hearings in cases with new evidence of a wrongful conviction.
Although Bailey’s office is not required to oppose such efforts, lawyers for his office said at the hearing that initial testimony from two boys at the scene who identified Dunn as the shooter was correct, even though they recanted as adults.
He also raised opposition at a hearing for Lamar Johnson, who spent 28 years in prison for murder. Another St. Louis judge ruled in February 2023 that Johnson was wrongfully convicted, and he was freed.
Another hearing begins Aug. 21 for death row inmate Marcellus Williams. Bailey’s office is opposing the challenge to Williams’ conviction, too. Timing is of the essence: Williams is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24.
Steven Puro, professor emeritus of political science at St. Louis University, said Bailey is in a highly competitive race for the attorney general position with the primary quickly approaching on Aug. 6.
“Bailey is trying to show that he is, quote, ‘tough on crime,’ which is a very important Republican conservative position,” he said. “Clearly, he’s angering members of the judicial system that he will have to argue before in the future. But he’s making the strategic notion that he needs to get his name before the voters and try to use that to win the primary election.”
Michael Wolff, a former Missouri Supreme Court judge and chief justice, agreed, saying it seems this has become political for Bailey.
“But one of the things is that no matter what your beliefs are, if a court orders something to happen, it’s not your purview to say no,” he said. “The court has to be obeyed.”
___
Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas; Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine contributed from Columbia, Missouri.
FARIBAULT, Minn. — Contraband isn’t new to prisons, but investigators are warning that Minnesota’s prison system is being inundated by mail laced with synthetic opioids.
“I’ve been in this department for 27 years, and this is one of our largest problems,” John Melvin, director of the office of special investigations at the Minnesota Department of Corrections, explained to WCCO Investigates. “Our investigators are very overwhelmed by trying to help stop this introduction.”
Melvin shared several examples of compromised mail that was confiscated and tested for drugs. They included everything from handwritten birthday cards to what appeared to a package from an attorney’s office.
“It can be manufactured, it can be sprayed on and it dries, and then that piece of paper can be cut into small squares and ingested, usually through smoking,” Melvin added. “They are making small devices like a cigarette and they’re shoving it into the end of it and smoking it like a cigarette, then lighting it using the electrical outlet in their cells.”
It’s such a problem that some Minnesota prisons are changing their mailroom protocols.
Dozens of inmates transported to hospital
The flow of synthetic drugs into prisons has led to many dangerous situations inside cell blocks. Data provided to WCCO Investigates from the DOC shows nearly 70 occurrences this year where an ambulance was called to a Minnesota prison for a suspected overdose.
In some cases, staff has transported an inmate to a hospital in a DOC vehicle.
“Physically, we’re finding them very distraught,” Melvin said of inmates experiencing symptoms of suspected overdoses. “Sometimes not even able to talk. They’ve lost balance, on the floor in their cell. We’ve found them when they’re in convulsions.”
Additionally, Melvin warned that because the narcotics are synthetic, a common antidote like Narcan isn’t always effective.
“If it’s not an opioid, then we’re not having success with our Narcan,” Melvin said.
Overdoses lead to lockdowns, frustrating inmates’ loved ones
The Minnesota Correctional Facility in Faribault is a sprawling campus with a population of roughly 1,800 offenders. They are divided into many buildings of dual-level cell blocks, but also have access to classrooms and recreation areas.
When there’s a suspected overdose, sections of the prison will be locked down in order to restrict movement while corrections officers give medical attention to the offender. Those lockdowns, according to officials, can last several hours, but are necessary.
“It has to be the gameplan when safety is the core issue,” DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell told WCCO Investigates. “You can’t do anything else. If safety is a problem, if safety is at risk, then you can’t do anything else, so that has to be managed first.”
The lockdowns, however, have drawn rebuke from inmates’ families and loved ones, which consider lockdowns collective punishment because it leads to the cancellation of work and rehabilitation programming.
“I’ll be the first one to tell you, and the wardens will tell you, I want programs opened as soon as possible,” Schnell said. “I want to minimize the use of lockdowns, but I will never say to [corrections officers] no lockdown because safety has to be the No. 1 job.”
New protocols to help stop smuggling
The mailroom at the Faribault prison processes some 400 pieces of mail per day, according to staff, and in the days before Father’s Day, as many as 39 letters tested positive for synthetic drugs.
The DOC has since piloted new mail protocols in Faribault, as well as the prisons Stillwater and Rush City, where mail is now opened, scanned, copied and then delivered to inmates.
“The compounds that are sent in change regularly,” Schnell explained. “That’s what makes this so insidious and so challenging. We have people that are getting so sick and dying from this stuff. We can’t let that go on, so we’re going to take steps to address it.”
More than month after the protocols were introduced, DOC staff at Faribault are reporting a drastic reduction in the number of letters laced with opioids.
Melvin warned it could take another month before the drugs already smuggled in will be consumed by inmates, but he thinks the new mail program could stop up to 90% of compromised mail.
“We’re doing a really good job of working with our population and talking about this,” Melvin said.
Jonah Kaplan is WCCO and CBS News Minnesota’s investigative reporter and has built a strong reputation for his balanced and in-depth coverage of high-impact issues including the economy, immigration, education, public safety, and the military, among others.
BEVERLY — A man who was serving a life sentence for a 1987 execution-style murder in Salem has been granted parole, despite the objections of the victim’s family and the Essex District Attorney’s office.
Charles “Chucky” Doucette, who pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Raymond Bufalino, was granted parole by the state parole board on May 13.
Doucette, who is now 64, shot Bufalino twice in the head as they were sitting in Bufalino’s car near Harmony Grove Cemetery on the Salem-Peabody line in 1987. He was also convicted of two violent home invasions while on bail awaiting trial, and was arrested when he was out on parole on two previous occasions.
In its unanimous decision, the parole board said Doucette “has demonstrated a level of rehabilitation that would make his release compatible with the welfare of society.”
In testimony before the parole board in March, Bufalino’s wife, Shauna O’Sullivan, pleaded with the board not to release Doucette.
“With his tendency for violence I fear that he will reoffend,” she said in a video of the hearing. “I would hate to hear of another person having to live through the anguish and emotional turmoil that I went through. I believe he made his choice all those years ago and that he should be held accountable for his crimes.”
O’Sullivan said her son was 9½ months old at the time his father was murdered.
“I’m not angry or bitter,” she told the board. “I’m past that now, some 38 years later.
“I feel I owe it to my husband’s memory to say something.”
Bufalino’s sister and brother also spoke against giving Doucette parole. In a statement read by a victim service advocate at the parole hearing, Suzanne Maynard and Anthony Bufalino called Doucette a “menace to society and a true threat to society.
“Look at what happened the first time he got paroled,” they said. “Nothing but trouble. So tell me, since being back in prison has he changed? I doubt it.”
Essex County Assistant District Attorney Kayla Burns also spoke against parole, saying Doucette has continued to minimize his culpability and deflect blame.
“He puts the blame on other people being in his life,” Burns said.
During the hearing, Doucette, who has lived in Beverly and Peabody, said he has changed in his years in prison thanks to counseling and programs on subjects such as domestic violence and anger management.
“I’ve always been bigger and stronger than most people. I always got my way through intimidation and being a total ass,” he told the parole board. “I’m not that person today. I have children. I have grandchildren. I have great-grandchildren. I don’t want them to make the mistakes I made. I want them to learn from the mistakes I made.”
Doucette’s mother and sister spoke in favor of his release. His sister, Kim Malick, said Doucette has remained close to her children, who are now in their 20s.
“He met my oldest daughter when she fit into the palm of his hand in prison,” Malik said. “I would love for him to have the opportunity to come home and see her.”
Doucette had been granted parole twice previously and was arrested both times — once on a rape charge that was later dropped, and another on a domestic assault charge of which he was acquitted — and sent back to prison.
In total, Doucette was serving seven life sentences for the murder, two counts of home invasion, two counts of armed robbery, and two counts of stealing by confining or putting a person in fear.
He was denied parole in his last three attempts before the board granted parole in May.
According to the board’s decision, Doucette has invested in his rehabilitation, including participating in domestic violence programs and counseling, and working and volunteering in the prison law library. “He has strong vocational skills and work ethic,” the board said.
Doucette has maintained stable relationships with his family and has been sober since 1990, according to the board.
He told the board he wanted to get his commercial driving license and move to Texas to be near his family.
Bufalino, of Salem, worked for Doucette’s father at a Salem gas station and was considering a lawsuit after getting injured while working. Doucette was also angry that Bufalino owed him money, according to the parole board’s statement of the case.
While seated together in Bufalino’s car, Doucette shot him once behind the right ear and once in the mouth. Bufalino’s body was found by his wife, who had gone to search for him. He was 30 years old.
At the hearing, Doucette apologized to Bufalino’s family. At one point he broke down crying when he said that his own daughter no longer talks to him.
“I know how bad it hurt me with my own daughter not being part of my life,” Doucette said. “I can’t put into words what I must have cost Ray’s family and his son especially.”
After gaining parole, Doucette was scheduled to be released to a long-term residential program. Conditions included a 10 p.m. curfew, electronic monitoring at the parole officer’s discretion, a substance abuse treatment plan, domestic violence counseling, counseling for intimate partner/co-dependence relations, and no contact with the victim’s family.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
This is an updated version of a story first published on Jan. 28, 2024. The original video can be viewed here.
The United States federal prison system has 158,000 inmates in its custody and locks up some of the most dangerous and high-profile criminals in the world.
Serial killers and terrorists are among those inside its 122 prisons, which include supermax penitentiaries and minimum security camps. The cost to American taxpayers is more than $8 billion a year.
Tonight, we will take you inside the Federal Bureau of Prisons, an agency in crisis.
A series of government investigations has found the bureau’s workforce is dangerously understaffed and, as we first reported in Janiary, inside its women’s prisons, there is an alarming pattern of abuse.
Colette Peters is in charge of fixing the Bureau of Prisons. She’s the sixth director in six years.
This is Aliceville – a low-security women’s prison in rural Alabama where more than 1,400 inmates are serving time.
Colette Peters: People drive past prisons every day.
Cecilia Vega: Yeah, they’re terrified of them.
Colette Peters: Or they don’t think about them at all. Right, it’s kind of like this forgotten zone. I don’t want people to forget about this place.
Colette Peters became director of the Bureau of Prisons in August 2022.
After a 20-year career in corrections, she’s built a reputation as a reformer – before becoming director, she was credited with shaping Oregon’s state prison system by prioritizing staff mental health support and advocating for the compassionate treatment of inmates.
Colette Peters: I have this very early memory in kindergarten where an individual came in with a pocket knife and was marched to the principal’s office. And I just remember in that moment saying, “I wanna help him.”
Colette Peters and Cecilia Vega
60 Minutes
Cecilia Vega: Many people in your custody are there because of horrific crimes. Why do they deserve compassion?
Colette Peters: Because 95% of them are gonna come back to our community someday, and I want them to be productive, tax-paying citizens who no longer commit crimes.
But the Bureau of Prisons is so inadequately staffed it is struggling to fulfill its mission: rehabilitating inmates and keeping its prisons safe.
Government watchdogs have documented disrepair in all of its institutions – requiring more than $2 billion in fixes.
And employees rank the Bureau of Prisons the worst place to work in the federal government.
Cecilia Vega: It’s very rare for the media to be allowed inside a federal prison. Why are we here?
Colette Peters: I truly believe in transparency. Are we perfect? No. Do we have issues we need to resolve? Absolutely. But I want people to see the good stuff.
We toured Aliceville with Director Peters…
And saw where inmates live… learn new trades…and work… on this day, sewing sleeping bags for the military — a coveted job because it pays $1.15 an hour.
This ceremony is for inmates graduating from a faith-based program preparing them for life on the outside by connecting them with community leaders and teaching them life skills — like anger management.
But the reality is nearly half of federal inmates will end up back behind bars or arrested within three years of getting out.
Cecilia Vega: A lot of those faces in there, who have so much promise and hope today, could end up right back in here.
Colette Peters: Yeah. You know, I think we have a lot of work to do to dial down that recidivism rate. We have to send fewer people to prison for shorter periods of time. And then when they’re here do things like this.
Cecilia Vega: You also have a major staffing issue, and people can’t get these classes that they need.
Colette Peters: Right. Staffing was a problem before the pandemic, and so tha– those recruitment efforts and those retention efforts have gotten hard.
Cecilia Vega: How many correctional officers do you need on staff to get you out of this staffing crisis?
Colette Peters: So we hope to have that real number for– you and the public– very soon.
Cecilia Vega: That seems like a critical number. How was that not on your desk when you s– took this job on day one, and– and still not there a year later?
Colette Peters: So the good news is this was a problem the bureau was trying to solve before I got here, and we’re in the process of solving it.
Director Peters says she expects to have the number of officers needed by October – more than two years after taking office.
But Shane Fausey, the recently retired president of the federal prison employees union, says he knows what that number is now –
Shane Fausey: We’re short about 8,000 positions nation-wide.
Shane Fausey
60 Minutes
Cecilia Vega: How bad is it?
Shane Fausey: It results in one of us losing our lives. And it’s that bad. We can’t continue with this course.
By the union’s count, the Bureau of Prisons is down about 40% of the correctional officers it needs…
Shane Fausey: The less supervision you have, the more bad things happen.
Shane Fausey: Misconduct increases.
Shane Fausey: Violence increases.
And because there are not enough officers, the bureau relies on other prison staff to step in. It’s a controversial practice called augmentation.
Shane Fausey: Teachers, nurses– doctors, food service people, the people that maintain facilities,
Cecilia Vega: They’re doing what now?
Shane Fausey: They’re in a housing unit, supervising offenders.
Cecilia Vega: Do they have training in that?
Shane Fausey: They do. But I can tell you I’m no better a plumber than they are a correctional officer.
Shane Fausey: I can walk into a housing unit and tell you something’s right or somethin’s wrong. You develop that over years of experience.
Cecilia Vega: Let’s break this down. We are talking about HVAC repairmen and accountants who are now guarding inmates. That doesn’t sound safe.
Colette Peters: So it is. So they have the exact same training as the correctional officers.
Colette Peters: Now what I will say is augmentation should only be l– used in the short-term. We’ve used this now to solve a long-term retention and recruitment problem. And that isn’t right.
On this point the union and management agree: prison staff – like teachers and doctors – need to be able to do their jobs so that inmates don’t lose access to critical services and programs.
Shane Fausey: Their buzz phrase is, “Everybody’s a correctional officer first.” That sounds good on paper. But if you take the teacher out of the classroom, and nobody’s teaching the offender the skills to go back out to society, we’re just back to warehousing people.
While we walked the halls of Aliceville, classrooms were packed but several inmates told us that much of what we saw on our tour was staged.
Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville
60 Minutes
Cecilia Vega: Am I getting a real look at what life is like in here today?
Female Voice: Absolutely not.
Female Voice: Unh-uh (negative).
Female Voice: No definitely not.
Female Voice: Absolutely not.
Female Voice: The staff is very disrespectful here.
Female Voice: Even though we made mistakes– when we’re out here, we’re not treated with respect.
Cecilia Vega: Do you feel safe here?
Female Voice: Sometimes.
Female Voice: I mean, prison is prison. You see what I’m sayin’?
Cecilia Vega: Tell me about staffing.
Female Voice: They’re short staffed all the time.
Female Voice: There’s times where you don’t know if you’re gonna be able to go outside because somebody didn’t come to work.
Cecilia Vega: And if you were to speak up about some of these issues that you’re telling me about, what would happen?
Female Voice: You’d go into the SHU.
Female Voice: You’re goin’ to jail.
Female Voice: You’re goin’ to the SHU.
The SHU, short for special housing unit, is the jail inside a prison – where inmates are segregated from the general population and seldom let outside of their cells…
Cecilia Vega: Make you nervous to talk to me right now?
Female Voice: Little bit.
Cecilia Vega: The director is coming today. What does she need to know about Aliceville?
Female Voice: Fix it.
Female Voice: We need more education, more, like, opportunity to grow and rehabilitate. Cause we don’t have that here.
Cecilia Vega: I’ve talked to a handful of inmates here today, and they say, “Look, you’re gettin’ a cleaned up version of what life is really like.”
Colette Peters: I’ve been doing this work for a long time– so I can see when things have been swept under the rug, if you will. I’m not naïve. And when anybody comes to your house you clean it up.
Of all the issues plaguing the Bureau of Prisons- perhaps none is more disturbing than the rampant sexual abuse of female inmates by the male officers who are supposed to protect them.
Women are housed in nearly a quarter of federal prisons.
And a 2022 Senate investigation found that bureau staff have sexually abused female prisoners in at least two-thirds of those facilities over the past decade.
Aliceville is no exception. Three officers have been convicted of sexual abuse since 2020; including one who pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Cecilia Vega: Those are just the cases that we know about. How does this keep happening?
Colette Peters: You can’t predict human behavior. But what I can tell you is the things that we’re putting in place to manage to that misconduct I think are the right things, and sending a clear message that this type of behavior is egregious, horrendous, and unexcusable.
But female inmates at a women’s prison in Northern California accuse Director Peters and the Bureau of Prisons of failing to protect them
Its official name is Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin. But it’s known by inmates and staff as “the rape club.”
Seven Dublin officers, including the warden and the chaplain, have been convicted of sexually abusing nearly two dozen inmates from 2018-to-2021.
And, this past August, eight inmates filed suit claiming “sexual abuse…continues to this day.”
Tess Korth
60 Minutes
Tess Korth: These are mothers, they’re daughters, they’re sisters.
Tess Korth worked as a correctional officer at Dublin for 25 years. She resigned in 2022 after she says she was retaliated against for whistleblowing.
Tess Korth: They train us in the red flags to look for. And then when we report, “Hey, they’re– every red flag, this guy meets. You need to go deal with this,” they don’t do anything.
Cecilia Vega: What was the chaplain doing that made you suspicious?
Tess Korth: One time I came in on a weekend. He didn’t know I was there. His office was dark. And he had an inmate in there with him. And I don’t know what they were doing…
Cecilia Vega: That’s a red flag.
Tess Korth: Oh, definitely.
Former Officer Korth says she reported the chaplain and other officers who she suspected of sexually abusing inmates to an Internal Affairs investigator but was ignored for years – until federal investigators stepped in.
Cecilia Vega: What happened to the officers that you accused?
Tess Korth: Most of ’em– have been or in the process of being convicted. And a lot of ’em are– named in lawsuits right now.
Cecilia Vega: How’s that make you feel?
Tess Korth: Good.
The Bureau of Prisons has a backlog of nearly 8,000 open misconduct investigations – hundreds of which contain allegations of sexual abuse.
Director Peters hired more staff to tackle the backlog, but she says it will take two years to clear those cases.
In response to the Dublin lawsuit, Bureau of Prisons’ lawyers say inmates’ claims have been investigated and that “no threat remains.”
Colette Peters: We’ve done a tremendous job in the last year rebuilding that culture and creating– a institution that is more safe, where individuals feel comfortable coming forward and reporting claims
Cecilia Vega: You just used the phrase, “tremendous job” in Dublin. Eight inmates have filed a class action lawsuit, and they’ve got testimony from more than 40 current and former Dublin inmates who say that the abuse is ongoing.
Colette Peters: That means the– the process is working, that they have the ability to come forward. They have the right to bring that class action lawsuit together.
Cecilia Vega: These Dublin inmates say that they are facing retaliation for speaking out.
Colette Peters: I have been very clear that retaliation will not be stood on my watch. And so when allegations of retaliation come forward, they are investigated, and we will hold those people accountable.
Cecilia Vega: It’s one thing for you to say that retaliation is not tolerated, but it sounds like it’s actually still happening.
Colette Peters: Again, I would say those are allegations. I would like to be more grounded in fact around proven retaliation.
The fact is that an additional 19 staff members have been accused of abusing inmates.
The bureau says those staff members were put on leave, new management was brought in, and working security cameras were installed in areas where inmates were abused.
Cecilia Vega: What are these victims owed?
Colette Peters: To have individuals who are in our care, who rely on us for their safety and security, and to have that be violated, I don’t know that you can– bring anything– that– that would undo that wrong.
Cecilia Vega: What about an apology? The victims in Dublin say they’ve never received an apology.
Colette Peters: Well, I will tell you—that is our mission to keep them safe. That is our job.
Cecilia Vega: Is your job to apologize for what happened in Dublin?
Colette Peters: I don’t know that my job is to apologize. Is it heartbreaking and horrendous to have something like that happen– when you are proud of your profession, as a corrections professional? Absolutely.
After our report first aired, the FBI raided FCI Dublin and, in April, the Bureau of Prisons shut it down. There are now more than 65 former Dublin inmates who have filed lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Bureau of Prisons staff.
Produced by Natalie Jimenez Peel. Associate producer, Matthew Riley. Broadcast associate, Katie Jahns. Edited by Daniel J. Glucksman.
Editorials and other Opinion content offer perspectives on issues important to our community and are independent from the work of our newsroom reporters.
What are certain fringe politicians, podcasters, aging rockers and blatant self-promoters thinking?
Paul A. Smith
USA Today Network file photo
Wildlife health
Thank you for the clear-eyed June 9 commentary, “State must deal with wasting disease threat to Texas deer,” (5C) about the deadly threats posed by chronic wasting disease. The vast majority of Texans concerned with preserving a healthy wild deer herd are fully supportive of the extensive efforts by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to contain and eliminate this awful disease.
It is beyond comprehension that fringe voices are waging such a virulent campaign against any who take this disease seriously. I can’t help but think that certain politicians, podcasters, aging rockers and blatant self-promoters are harboring their own heads full of damaged prions.
– Roy Leslie, San Antonio
Fueling violence
The Fairmount neighborhood has always been a safe place for the LGBTQ community. Businesses on Magnolia Avenue, Celebration Community Church on Pennsylvania and Westside Unitarian Universalist Church are welcoming to all. As a straight cisgender couple, my husband and I enjoy the area because everyone seems so chill and non-discriminatory.
Holding an anti-transgender disinformation seminar during Pride Month at the Fire Station Community Center is disrespectful to the community and invites danger to a neighborhood that is one of the few safe spaces in Fort Worth. (June 5, 2A, “Fort Worth OKs anti-LGBTQ ‘ideology’ event at city center”) The groups involved in this event spread incorrect information about gender-affirming care, and their rhetoric fuels violence. The city made a mistake by allowing this event.
– Amy Ramsey, Fort Worth
School decisions
Let’s make sure we all understand the Fort Worth school board’s recent decisions.
The board commissioned a study, due this year, to better understand declining enrollments and underused facilities. Deciding not to wait for the commissioned report, the board decided to close several schools.
But because of predictable community reaction, the board reversed that decision. The board will use bond funds to upgrade all middle schools, even though some will be closed in the future.
It’s rather questionable decision-making for those governing an $800-million-a-year enterprise.
– William Koehler, Fort Worth
Texas prisons
It will take more than the sheriff and Texas Rangers to resolve the overcrowding and inmate death issues in Texas county jails. Prison and jail administrators and corrections officers should be educated in criminology, sociology, correctional law, management, sociology of organizations, minority relations and psychology. This would prepare individuals to lead their organizations, work with at-risk populations, understand social and cultural issues, and apply effective problem-solving strategies. These skills are important because the research suggests that most prison and jail deaths are preventable.
Without intelligent, competent and inspiring leadership, there is little chance of creating constructive corrections environments and operations. It is time to re-address the training and educational requirements for prison and jail administrators, and corrections officers.
– Leslie J. Smith, Grapevine
Phones rob kids
Thank you, Brian Byrd, for addressing school phone bans in your June 4 commentary, “To help ‘anxious generation,’ start with school phone bans.” (12A) It saddens me to see young people and adults with their heads staring at their smartphones, fingers flying. I am certainly guilty of this at times, but the cost to our children’s development is incalculable.
Our phones are an exciting source of information. So is a good book. Our phones are an escape from reality. So is a walk in the woods. This is definitely a problem that needs our attention.
Days after being ordered to surrender by July 1 for a four-month prison sentence, longtime Trump adviser Stephen BannontoldTucker Carlson: “In my 20s I served my country on a Navy destroyer, and in my 70s I’ll serve my country in a federal prison. It doesn’t make any difference to me. It won’t change my life in one way.” But apparently, it actually does matter to him, because last night he made a last-ditch attempt to stay out of the big house.
In an emergency motion filed Tuesday, Bannon, who was sentenced to time behind bars for contempt of Congress, asked a federal appeals court to let him remain free while he appeals his criminal conviction. Why does he think the court should grant him such a reprieve? Because he’s trying to help reelect Donald Trump, and also because he has a podcast that his listeners simply cannot be deprived of. “The government seeks to imprison Mr. Bannon for the four-month period leading up to the November election, when millions of Americans look to him for information on important campaign issues,” attorney Trent McCotterwrote in the filing. “This would also effectively bar Mr. Bannon from serving as a meaningful advisor in the ongoing national campaign.”
Bannon hosts a show called War Room, where, among other things, he has called for beheading top government officials and famously told listeners, on January 5, 2021, “We’re on the point of attack” and “All hell will break loose tomorrow.” In a text message to NBC News after a judge ordered him to surrender on July 1, he wrote: “Who says I’m reporting! WarRoom can not and will not be silenced.” He added that the show’s regular schedule would continue, saying: “4 hours a day 5 days a week and two on Saturday.… The WarRoom is a military command center for MAGA—can’t stop and won’t until we achieve final victory.”
Bannon was actually sentenced to prison all the way back in 2022, but was allowed to remain free pending appeal of his conviction; last month, a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court upheld his guilty conviction. Following that ruling, Judge Carl Nichols said the Trump adviser could no longer delay his time behind bars. In the emergency motion filed yesterday, Bannon asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overrule Nichols’s order. His lawyers have argued that he should not have to go to prison until all of his avenues for appealing his conviction—including the Supreme Court—have been exhausted.
JOHNSONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10)– Police are asking the public for help in the six-year-long cold case of Megan Dyer-Maclean. Dyer-Maclean was last seen alive on June 2, 2018, before she was found dead along an old railroad track near her home two days later.
“We are working with a firm that specializes in Cold Case homicides they came in a couple weeks ago to do a full review of the case,” said Rensselaer County Sheriff, Kyle Bourgault.
The sheriff’s office took the NEWS10 crew behind the scenes to a never-before-seen murder investigation room to get a feel for that work and the work that continues to be done. “I have four and a half years left of my career to make my 20, but I plan on not leaving until this case is solved,” said Investigations Sargeant, Jamie Panichi.
They said that two years after Megan’s death they began investigating her death as a homicide. The sheriff’s office confirmed a toxicology report found high levels of strychnine in Megan’s system. The sheriff’s investigations team described the scene as the body being tossed and discarded somewhere along a trail behind their home in Johnsonville.
The sheriff’s office revealed there was a bruise on the top of Megan’s head that was about the size of a quarter or the head of a hammer.
The sheriff is certain that the public has the answer his team is looking for. “Somebody knows something about where that strychnine came from. Whether it came from an old barn, or where it came from an old outhouse or garage, somebody knows where that came from and we’re looking to talk to that person,” said the sheriff.
Investigations Sergeant Jamie Panichi, who has been on this case from day one, refuses to give up.
“We visit her, we just let her know that she hasn’t been forgotten about. We’re still working on it, it’s an open case and we’re going to do everything we can to solve it,” explained Panichi.
The sheriff’s office is asking that anyone with information on this case to call investigators at (518) 270-0128 through a confidential crime tip line.
A 22-year-old man will spend six years in prison for his role in the 2022 firebombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa, closing a case that involved two other defendants.
Tibet Ergul pleaded guilty in February to federal charges of conspiracy to damage an energy facility and intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility. He was one of three men arrested in connection with the crime.
Ergul’s co-defendants, Xavier Batten of Brooksville, Fla., and Chance Brannon of San Juan Capistrano, were recently sentenced to three and a half years and nine years, respectively.
Ergul’s attorney, Sheila Mojtehedi, said her client “looks forward to closing this chapter and moving on with his life.”
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, Ergul apologized for his actions and cited mental health issues, along with other struggles. He added that he was “keen to please” his old friend, Brannon, leading him to agree to attack the clinic.
“I had just spent a long period of time alone, feeling as if l did not belong to any causes, nor groups; I believed that if I did not go along with satisfying my friend’s wishes and, in a way earn his respect, I would lose another relationship that I had cultivated and end up lonelier than I had been before,” Ergul wrote.
According Ergul’s plea agreement, on the morning of March 13, 2022, he and Brannon — disguised in dark clothing, hoods, masks and gloves — ignited a Molotov cocktail and threw it at the clinic’s entrance.
The facility was forced to temporarily close and staff had to reschedule around 30 appointments.
“This defendant’s hatred toward others led him to plotting and carrying out violence,” said U.S. Atty. Martin Estrada. “We will not allow bigoted intolerance to divide us. My office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute crimes motivated by hate in order to keep our community safe.”
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, Ergul and Brannon planned to use a second Molotov cocktail to damage another Planned Parenthood clinic, but did not follow through with it after seeing law enforcement near their intended target, Ergul’s plea agreement states.
Ergul then conspired with others, including Brannon, to use firearms or a Molotov cocktail to damage a Southern California Edison electrical substation, according to the agreement.
The third man, Batten, pleaded guilty to teaching the others how to assemble the Molotov cocktail used in the attack.
Garry Conille was named Haiti’s new prime minister Tuesday evening, nearly a month after a coalition within a fractured transitional council had chosen someone else for the position.
Council member Louis Gérald Gilles told The Associated Press that six out of seven council members with voting power chose Conille earlier Tuesday. He said one member, Laurent St. Cyr, was not in Haiti and therefore did not vote.
Conille is UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean and previously served as Haiti’s prime minister from October 2011 to May 2012 under then President Michel Martelly.
Garry Conille speaks during an interview with Reuters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 27, 2023.
RALPH TEDY EROL / REUTERS
According to Conille’s UNICEF page, he was appointed Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean in January 2023. He previously worked with UNICEF in Jamaica and Burundi, though he began his career with the UN in Haiti in 1999.
Henry was on an official trip to Kenya when a coalition of powerful gangs launched coordinated attacks Feb. 29, seizing control of police stations, shooting at Haiti’s main international airport and storming the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
Henry was locked out of the country by the attacks, with the airport in the Port-au-Prince capital remaining shuttered for nearly three months.
File photograph: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks on as Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille speaks following their meeting in Washington, D.C., on February 8, 2012.
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images
Gang violence is still surging in parts of Haiti’s capital and beyond as Conille takes over the helm of the troubled Caribbean country awaiting the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from Kenya and other countries.
Conille studied political and health administration and helped develop health care in impoverished communities in Haiti. He worked for several years at the United Nations before Martelly designated him as prime minister in 2011. Conille resigned less than a year later following clashes with the president and his Cabinet over an investigation into government officials who have dual nationality, which is not allowed by Haiti’s constitution.
Conille has an arduous task ahead of him, having to quell rampant gang violence while helping lift Haiti out of deep poverty, with inflation reaching a record 29%, according to the latest data available. In recent years, gangs that control at least 80% of Port-au-Prince have forced more than 360,000 people from their homes, and they continue to control key routes from the capital to Haiti’s northern and southern regions, often paralyzing the transportation of critical goods.
The selection of Conille as prime minister comes just weeks after former Haitian sports minister Fritz Bélizaire was chosen for the post in late April by a four-member coalition within the nine-member transitional council in a surprise announcement that angered many. Critics said proper procedure was not followed as dictated by the framework that established the council, so a new process was started to choose a prime minister, with dozens of names submitted for the post.
Police officers take up positions in preparation for the swearing-in of a transitional council, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on April 25, 2024.
Guerinault Louis/Anadolu via Getty Images
The drawn-out process has been criticized by many, including the Montana Accord, a Haitian civil society group that has a representative on the council.
In a statement Tuesday, the group accused the council of not taking any “consequential measures” since being installed as “the suffering of the people is getting worse, while the gangs are taking control of more territory and committing more crimes.”
It also accused the council of not being transparent while choosing a new prime minister, saying it did not publicly share the criteria used or the names submitted, among other things.
Liné Balthazar, president of the Tet Kale party, called on the council to be transparent in an interview Monday with Magik9, a local radio station, and said the selection of a prime minister appeared improvised.
In addition to selecting a new prime minister, the nine-member council, of which seven have voting powers, also has to appoint a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before elections can take place. The council’s non-renewable mandate expires Feb. 7, 2026, at which date a new president is scheduled to be sworn in.
In addition to picking a new prime minister, the council also is responsible for selecting a new Cabinet and holding general elections by the end of next year.
The council members are Emmanuel Vertilaire for Petit Desalin, a party led by former senator and presidential candidate Jean-Charles Moïse; Smith Augustin for EDE/RED, a party led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; Fritz Alphonse Jean of the Montana Accord; Leslie Voltaire for Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; Louis Gérald Gilles for the Dec. 21 coalition that backs former Prime Minister Ariel Henry; Edgard Leblanc Fils for the Jan. 30 Collective, which represents parties including that of former President Michel Martelly; and Laurent Saint-Cyr for the private sector.
